1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device which includes a circuit including at least a semiconductor element such as a transistor as one element, and a manufacturing method thereof. For example, the present invention relates to an electronic device which includes, as a component, a power device mounted in a power circuit; a semiconductor integrated circuit including a memory, a thyristor, a converter, an image sensor, or the like; an electro-optical device typified by a liquid crystal display panel; or a light-emitting display device including a light-emitting element.
Note that the semiconductor device in this specification refers to all devices that can function by utilizing semiconductor characteristics, and electro-optic devices, semiconductor circuits, and electronic appliances are all semiconductor devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, attention has been drawn to a technique for forming thin film transistors (TFTs) by using a semiconductor thin film formed over a substrate having an insulating surface. Thin film transistors are applied to a wide range of electronic devices such as ICs or electro-optical devices, and prompt development of thin film transistors that are to be used as switching elements in image display devices, in particular, is being pushed. Various metal oxides are used for a variety of applications.
Some metal oxides have semiconductor characteristics. The examples of such metal oxides having semiconductor characteristics are a tungsten oxide, a tin oxide, an indium oxide, a zinc oxide, and the like. A thin film transistor in which a channel formation region is formed using such metal oxides having semiconductor characteristics is known (Patent Documents 1 and 2).